In the field of absorbent articles, in particular in the field of baby diapers, napkins and incontinence products, there is a constant need of improvements with regard to the production efficiency as these products are staple products and are manufactured in large scale. Absorbent articles of this kind usually comprise a top-sheet, a back-sheet and an absorbent core situated between the two sheets of the absorbent article. The top-sheet and the absorbent core are intended to be directed towards the wearer when the absorbent article is worn.
Recent developments in the field of fastening structures for absorbent articles require the use of elongate belts in order to fasten the absorbent article around the waist of a wearer. This is, in particular, the case in the field of incontinence products, where the fastening structures of the absorbent articles need to accommodate varying sizes of the mainly adult wearers. The elongate belts of these fastening structures can exhibit reasonably long lengths such that the handling of the belts is difficult from a production and packaging point of view. The belts of the conventional fastening structures usually extend from the top-sheet and/or the back-sheet of the absorbent articles in the lateral direction, which may lead to the unwanted effects described in the following. In particular, the lengthy belts can pose a limitation on the manufacturing speed of a production line of the absorbent articles and are a constant risk to the production line in terms of blocking a machine or becoming caught or jammed in a production apparatus. When it comes to packaging the manufactured articles, there is the danger that the belts of two or more of the absorbent articles become entangled with one another, which slows down the production efficiency.
Additionally, the handling of two separate lengthy belts in the manufacturing process is time and cost consuming since each of the belts needs to be arranged and orientated properly before it can be attached to the absorbent article.
Conventionally, the belts are attached to the absorbent article by inserting them between the top-sheet and the back-sheet in order to enhance the stability of the respective bonding. This renders the attachment process of the belts even more difficult since the belts have to be arranged and positioned properly and then inserted between the top-sheet and the back-sheet.